Scripture tells us Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose the third day! We also know through Scripture that the dead in Christ will be raised up, and those who are alive at His coming will be changed and receive new, glorified bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Both the death and resurrection of Jesus is important. It proves who Jesus is. It demonstrates that God accepted Jesus’s sacrifice on our behalf. It shows that God has the power to raise us from the dead. It guarantees that the bodies of those who believe in Christ will not remain dead but will be resurrected into eternal life.
As Christians, we know that Jesus died on a cross but do you ever wonder how His death saves you? Scripture tells us that when Jesus shed His blood on the cross, He took the punishment we deserve and offered us something greater – His righteousness. Through our faith, we are offered new life. Here are five ways the death of Jesus saves you.
His Death Saves Us From Sin
To be saved, or born again is to accept the plan of salvation that Jesus offers us. In order to understand salvation, it’s imperative that we understand the death and resurrection of Christ which points to our salvation. The son of God was made human, and during His earthly life, he lived a perfect life, and died not because He wanted to but because we needed salvation. He was made to die for us. Amazingly, God raised Him from the dead into new life, and promises to resurrect us when Jesus comes again. The salvation we need is Jesus, and can only be accessed through Him.
Defeating Sin and Death Reflects His Deep Love For Us
We know from Scripture that we can escape the chains of sin through Jesus. Backsliding refers to going backwards spiritually and morally. When a believer backslides, he falls back in some way into a less desirable condition; his lapse may be a relatively minor one and unintentional. He may simply fall back through neglect by not praying, reading the Bible, and keeping his focus on living for God. On the other hand, a believer may backslide by deliberately choosing to indulge in this life’s sinful pleasures. This type of backsliding can carry disastrous consequences. It can bring dishonor to the One who laid down His life for us. But there is good news for us when we backslide. God doesn’t condemn him. God’s loving concern for backsliders is steadfast and sure. A big step you take to escape the tangles of sin is turning to Jesus, the only One who has defeated sin and death out of His deep love for us.
His Death Gave Us a Kingdom to Look Forward To
One of the greatest things that we have to look forward to is the Kingdom of Heaven. When we enter, the struggle over sin will finally be over. We all struggle with sin every day. We know that in the kingdom of heaven “nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27). This is only possible because of Jesus. We have no fear of being judged for our sin because it was already judged and taken away at the cross by Christ. We will have heavenly bodies, free from sin. We will no longer face the challenges and limitations we face one earth.
His Death Was an Expression of Divine Grace
From Luke 23:43, we know that Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). In this passage, Jesus is assuring one of the criminals on the cross that when he died, he would be with Jesus in heaven. This was granted because even at the hour of his death, the criminal had expressed his faith in Jesus, recognizing Him for who He was. The Bible tells us that the man says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into Your Kingdom” (Luke 23:42).
One big statement Jesus made on the cross was, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Those who were not aware of the full scope of what they were doing because they did not recognize Him as the Messiah. While their ignorance of divine truth did not mean they deserved forgiveness, Christ’s prayer in the midst of their mocking Him is an expression of the limitless passion of divine grace.
There is No Greater Gift
Sacrifice ultimately was paid through Jesus Christ. Romans 3:25 says, “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of His blood – to be received by faith.” There is no greater demonstration of both suffering and sacrifice than Jesus’ death on the cross. There is plenty of time spent in the Gospels describing the torture that led to Calvary and the pain Jesus suffered while nailed to a piece of wood. Jesus paid for our salvation. Through Jesus’ pain, suffering and death, we see a God who is relationally intimate with all creation.
If suffering in life doesn’t convince you that God in heaven cares about you, consider again the suffering of the One called by the prophet Isaiah, “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). Think about His bloody body, His nail-rippled hands and feet, His pierced side, His agony in the Garden and His cry of abandonment when He breathed His last breath. Christ was suffering not for His sins but ours. The Bible says Christ died to pay the price for our sins, and that those who believe in their heart that God has raised Him from the dead will be saved (Romans 10:9-10). This is not a reward but a gift to all that put their trust in Him.
